907 replies to this topic

[DEPS]

First bash at rally navigation done.
 
1st in class, 3rd Novice and 22nd Overall.......not bad for a complete (and i do mean complete) first timer.  Who know's what the future holds? Perhaps i should give up driving....naaaa....too much fun.
 
The Ross traders rally is a fantastic rally for anyone who fancies a go.  The special tests were mostly gravel and two of them were proper rally stage roads in the forest. The rest were at Chepstow race course on the tracks of the infield....again gravel, and by the end of the day quite rough.
 
The regularity was taxing, and we lost a few too many minutes here, but that was more due to my inexperience and a few wrong slots (I blame the driver!).  The last regularity was a monster at 1hr 45min and was part pre plot and part plot and bash.  This was all after a long long day in a hot and dusty classic car, so by then i had serious numb bum and a trainer soaked in hot oil thanks to a weeping oil pressure pipe!
 
Next up Vale of Clwyd Classic and i'm back in the mini and back in the drivers seat!!!  bring it on!

Well done, very impressive. Not sure whether to be inspired by your results or feel daunted??? :)

What car were you in then? When you mentioned earlier that you were going to navigate thought you were in the mini but swapping with the wife!

[JacckKirk]

Just read all this thread & just want to say your clubby looks great

[rally1380]

Just read all this thread & just want to say your clubby looks great

 

Cheers for the kind comment.  The car is going to have a full strip down and rebuild over the winter (time allowing as the new toy might need time too!) ready for next years championship in its original colour!!  Watch this space.

[rally1380]

 

First bash at rally navigation done.
 
1st in class, 3rd Novice and 22nd Overall.......not bad for a complete (and i do mean complete) first timer.  Who know's what the future holds? Perhaps i should give up driving....naaaa....too much fun.
 
The Ross traders rally is a fantastic rally for anyone who fancies a go.  The special tests were mostly gravel and two of them were proper rally stage roads in the forest. The rest were at Chepstow race course on the tracks of the infield....again gravel, and by the end of the day quite rough.
 
The regularity was taxing, and we lost a few too many minutes here, but that was more due to my inexperience and a few wrong slots (I blame the driver!).  The last regularity was a monster at 1hr 45min and was part pre plot and part plot and bash.  This was all after a long long day in a hot and dusty classic car, so by then i had serious numb bum and a trainer soaked in hot oil thanks to a weeping oil pressure pipe!
 
Next up Vale of Clwyd Classic and i'm back in the mini and back in the drivers seat!!!  bring it on!

Well done, very impressive. Not sure whether to be inspired by your results or feel daunted??? :)

What car were you in then? When you mentioned earlier that you were going to navigate thought you were in the mini but swapping with the wife!

 

 

No mini this time. We where in a Triumph Dolomite Sprint. Car 44 on the results

 

http://www.rallyroots.com/

 

Check out rallyroots for full results with details.

 

 

Nothing to feel daunted about.  Because i've been helping (sometimes hindering!) my wife learn the navigating (we are both beginners after all) side of things, some information clearly rubbed off and stuck in the grey cells.  In all honesty i really enjoyed it.  The tests where quite rough and like 'proper' stages so gave me a real feeling of rallying....although at some points i wish i had a helmet!!!

 

The most difficult bit was trying to plot and bash, and check average speeds, and remember to change those average speeds, and check the driver was going the right way!  Historic road rallying is all about the navigator, and doing the event in the wrong seat helped me appreciate how hard it is for the nav.  I do feel the Ross was a particularly tricky one (nav-wise) and perhaps not the best to start on, but i seem to have done ok.  I even beat a guy from my motor club who was helping me with the navigation before the event....oops!

 

I would highly recommend this championship to anyone who wants to do some motorsport, but doesn't have the finances to do stage, and doesn't want to be up all night doing night events.

[DEPS]

Thanks Dave,

You confirm what I have thought about the clubmans championship. Only thing against it could be the distance to travel to events, which may lead to overnight expenses.......???

Yeah I would love to stage rally again. looked at my car the other day and thought "this was stage legal" but now would probably need a couple of grand to get it back to being so. All those costs would all be down to changes in regs, e.g. certified roll cages, life dates on seats etc etc. Such a shame as blasting round airfields on a single venue was ace!

Dolly sprint sounds nice. don't know if it is my advancing years but classic cars are looking better and better to me!

Day off tomorrow so hoping to spend a good proportion of it on the car, so will try and update my build thread at some point.....depending on progress:).

[matt.roffey]

Have you got a photo of how your brake line goes out and attaches to your subframe???

[rally1380]

Have you got a photo of how your brake line goes out and attaches to your subframe???

 

Hi there.  Which end of the car do you mean...front or back?  I'm assuming the back.  Bit of a tight area to phot but if you tell me exactly what you are after I will try and advise....even if it is by sketch ratch thank an out of focus photo of a muddy subframe!!!! 

[rally1380]

No rallying since last time, but have been busy autotesting the mini in my local clubs championship.

 

Have made a few silly mistakes in all honesty, and since winning the first round my results have got progressively worse....I think pressure to win = heavy right foot, which isn't good for traction or fast times!

 

Anyway, first year of autotests has been a learning curve and been great fun.  Will definately be trying some 'proper' tarmac autotests and autosolo's in the future.

 

Below are some photo's from this weekends KDMC event. The last round of the championship was a PCT (Production Car Trial) rather than an Autotest.  All was going brilliantly and at the half time halt I had a healthy lead.  Then someone did a rain dance and my grip levels plummeted.

 

My scores where terrible during the last few rounds as a diesel Skoda Pickup and a Renault Clio showed me a clean pair of heels (tyres!). I ended up 2nd overall, which is ok, but disapointing considering my earlier form.  Either way, I had a blast and it ain't all about winning is it folks?  honest

 

An Mpi Sportspack did the PCT too, but had really bad overheating issues....any ideas???

 

So the PCT was the saturday, leaving the sunday for KDMC's annual Gymkhana.

 

Best way to describe this is a fun event, with loads of different tests.  Some are simple autotest speed runs whereas some need a bit more nerve!  The blindfold test was a bit tricky.  The best one was the potato test!  Drive round a course collecting potatoes from the top of cones....then drive back round the course putting the spuds back....fastest time wins.  There were other accuracy tests too.  All great fun with lunch thrown in too.

 

Here are some photo's of the weekend.....

 

Stable mates....my new Ibiza Cupra Sport helped ferry all the camping gear to the field....was actually really good at the trial tests.  My wife getting ready for battle in the mini sporting its new wheels

 

 

 

Not quite an F1 paddock but it was our little pit area for the weekend....with accomodation of sorts!

 

 

Beauty of a Mk1 Escort....got a few marks on it off cones by the end of the day!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Next up.....Vale of Clwyd Historic Rally.

Edited by rally1380, 19 August 2013 - 08:20 PM.

[matt.roffey]

Have you got a photo of how your brake line goes out and attaches to your subframe???

 
Hi there.  Which end of the car do you mean...front or back?  I'm assuming the back.  Bit of a tight area to phot but if you tell me exactly what you are after I will try and advise....even if it is by sketch ratch thank an out of focus photo of a muddy subframe!!!!

Just a description is fine, I'm running my brake line inside the car, front is very similar to yours but not sure how to do the back, would you go above or bellow the subframe? Or drill a whole and go through it then round onto the t piece?

Thanks matt

[domdee]

absolutely love the look of the mini! its so sexy! By far one of the nicest on the forum! i think them wheels have transformed it!

[keefr22]

Thanks Dave - you just brought tears to my eyes - there's my long lost love! I do still miss that Beeza so much...!! Have you changed the harnesses yet?!

And have to agree, the wheels on the Clubby look stunning!!

[rally1380]

Thanks Dave - you just brought tears to my eyes - there's my long lost love! I do still miss that Beeza so much...!! Have you changed the harnesses yet?!

And have to agree, the wheels on the Clubby look stunning!!

 

Not yet.....all in good time though.  Other than making the car secure (locks) I havn't really done much too it....other the give it a good thrashing round the lanes...all at legal speeds!!  It does fantastic handbrake turns though....private land of course!

 

Will post some updates on this little beauty once I've got the next rally out of the way.  Think we are entering the Beeza in a rally near Shrewsbury in october....need to crack on!!!

[keefr22]

Well, glad you managed to fix the locks anyway! Central locking working too?

This is, I guess drifting way OT for a Mini forum though...!! So to get it slightly back on topic, we still haven't definitely found the source of the oil leak in ours, but have jacked it up to look at the exhaust problem (which was the main exhaust coming completely adrift from the manifold Y piece!) & the leak seems to have slowed a lot with the car on stands at a 45 degree angle. So I'm hoping it may actually just be the leak from the oil cooler pipes that's causing the slick on the garage floor!!

Let us know about the event in Shrewsbury when you know more. It's still a bit of a trek, but not the other end of the world...

Edited by keefr22, 20 August 2013 - 12:49 PM.

[rally1380]

Ok so just had a look on www.britishrally.co.uk to see they have published a provisional seeded entry list for our next event.

 

We are seeded 58 out of 75 so we seem to be making a move up the seedings which is great...but slightly unnerving at the same time.

 

2 weeks til the event and need to crack on with prep and decide tyre choice and combo.  There is a fair amount of work to do on the car and get some regularity practice in too as it's on these tricky bits of historic road rallying where the proper points are won or lost.

 

Anyone fancy a bash at spectating let me know and I can probably have a guess at some test venues.

 

BRING IT ON!!!!!!

[minisi35]

looking good Dave